nervous cat

[Lord Copper]

our cat runs away and hides if we move too much or are a bit noisy. She's ok and likes to be with us, so long as we are still and quiet. Please advise

[snapdarlich]

We have 2 cats, one is more like a dog, I swear you could pick him up by the tail and he would just look at you and wonder why? He's never even raised a clook to anyone.

The other one is very nervous. We inherited the both of them when we got a new house, they are outdoor cats.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's much you can do as cats react especially by the way they are treated in their first few weeks of life. It may not have been much, but something they remember.

BTW Keep trying to make it comfortable. You probably won't cure the problem, but you can dramatically improve the situation. Molly will now come into the house, you just can't shut the back door. It's often quite chilly inside....

Best of Luck

[drgnrdr]

Try to desensitize your cat to the fear stimulus:
Determine what distance your cat can be from the fear stimulus without responding fearfully.
Introduce the fear stimulus at this distance while you're feeding your cat tasty treats and praising her.
Slowly move the fear stimulus closer as you continue to praise your cat and offer her treats.
If at any time during this process your cat shows fearful behavior, you've proceeded too quickly and will need to start over from the beginning. This is the most common mistake people make when desensitizing an animal, and it can be avoided by working in short sessions, paying careful attention to your cat so that you don't progress too rapidly for her.
Take time to desensitize her, move slower and treat and praise her for not reacting. You can start to play( a tape with your voices on it) noise on low, treat and praise. Do you understand? hope you can work thru this.

[drgnrdr]

Now this is assuming that you have already checked her out with your vet to make sure all is okay, I assumed that she has always done this behavior?

It's normal for you to want to help and comfort your cat when she's frightened. However, this isn't necessarily the best thing to do from your cat's point of view. Don't reward fear behavior. Good Luck

[Daisy13]

Lord Copper, I have spent the past 12 years sitting with doors / windows open for cats too nervous to go out if they're closed behind them! My cat is almost 13, has spent her entire adult life living in a house where she is queen (she was born underneath my bed) and is a a nervous wreck - loud noises, telephones, carrier bags, telephones, ironing boards, the list goes on! She has never been exposed to any sort of cruelty (certainly not from us and she ventures out of the confines of the back garden so it's unlikely anything else has happened out there) so who knows where it has come from?

The best advice I can give you is just to be very calm and reassuring around your cat and she will grow to trust you. We just move our cat out of the way, put her upstairs or outside when we hoover etc. Try to keep her in at this time of year with all of the fireworks but at the end of the day you just have to let them get on with it - cat's cant be trained like dogs can and they're pretty independent and like to be left to do things their way.

[drgnrdr]

Cats can be trained, they just have a different motive, a "good boy!" might work with dogs but not usually with cats.

Cats need to be socialized with many different things in the first few months of their lives to become confident and non fearful, just like puppies, but you have to expose them gently to new things and not thrust it upon them. Kittens learn from their mother and litter mates, and us. A cats behavior often reflect things happening in our home. They don't like change, they like routine.

[Yingying1987]

yeah i had a cat that would hide away when i was younger and had cousins round and being a chinese family we were very loud >_< so she would run into my room and hide under a chair or something. Then we run after her and try and play with her but she wouldnt have any of it and have a poo right there and then �_� i feel bad now that im older.

The only thing you can do for your cat is to let it outside or put her in a room where no one is so he/she can be left alone and calm down.

How old is your cat? if s/hes quite old then i guess this habit will stick but maybe if s/hes young then just bonding with h/hes as much as possible will help.

[Lord Copper]

thanks for advice all, we've had her four years and she's slowly improving. I've started to notice signs that she considers our house to be her territory, but I'll put a few of your suggestions into action, and see.

[nicademus]

I will second the point that cats can be trained. I trained one of mine (Ralf) to fetch. He has his own little football that wherever i throw, in boxes behind couches and the tv, he brings back to my feet.